Orthodontic appliance



NOV. 23; 1943. s, ATKiNSON 2,334,894

ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE Filed Jan. 26, 1942 aqthmuyd' Patented Nov. 23, .1943

ORTHODONTIC AP LIANGE p n e Y: Atkinso mam; chin, assignor I to California Institute Research Foundation,

u Pasadena, Calif.',' a corporation of California. 1 I I r j 2 Application January 26, 1942, Serial No. 428,154 r M v l ici ims. 10142-14) V This invention relates to an orthodontic ap;

pliance including a 'framecap'able oi being se-I cured beiore'the patients face,-for supporting means 'for subjecting the toothor te'eth'to be corrected, to the orthodontic correcting'iorce.

' One of the objects of 'tlieinvention is to provide an'appliance of this kindo-i simple-construction, having meansfcr enabling the correct ing force to be applied advantageously; also to enable this force to'be applied at al-o cation're moved laterally from the medial-central vertical 7 ,plane through the mouth, when desired. 7

One of the objects'fof the invention is to pifw' V vide simp1e-means iorlaiiording a support for a member that imparts the corrective force'tc the tooth, and for enabling" this point of support I tebe adjusted verticallyf-tothe l'evel'of the jaw, and the tooth' to' which t correctivefforce is'. tobeappliedQ Q 1 E; A further object of the invention to-prdvide :29 means whereby a torsional iorc'eior torque can be applied to the toothto be corrected, or to an arch connected to the tooth that iSftO bB cor rected. i ii A further object, of the invention is to provide'a frame of simple construction, adapted :to be ap'-. plied to the patients face-and'capable "of 'maintaining itself secured in position, and tc'provide means supported'o'n the frame and yieldingly. imparting the correcting force to the tooth, the arrangement being such that the-meansior'ap plying the yielding force is confinedto the connection betweenthe supporting frame and the member that connects with the tooth orteeth to be corrected, thereby rendering "itunnecessary *to have the frame securedin a tightand uncomfortableconditionon the patients-face,

A further object of the invention is to provide a frame adapted to be used for an appliance of this kind, which is of simple form and readily constructed of wire. l a r 1 Further objects of theinvention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combination of parts to be described hereinafter, all of .which contribute, to produce an efficient orthodontic appliance], H

A preferred embodiment,ofthe' invention is described in'the following specification, whflethe broad scopeof the invention is:v pointed out in" the appended-claims;

.Inthedrawing: I E]- H Fig. 1 is an elevation viewingthe appliance from the side of the patients face, and in this view the patients face is outlined'in dotted lines I to indicatehow the mine fits to a; This view also illustrates an arch applied tothe patients 1 teeth. v

1 Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the frameof the appliance and immediately associated 'parts,",

without illustrating:any of the headgear or straps which are employed for securing the frame-to the patients face.,' I

1 ,Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken aboutgon the line 3- 3, looking upwardly, diagrammatically illustrating the jaw and'the patients' teeth.

This view illustrates the arch audits anchorages; and also the means by which connection is eftested to the teeth to be corrected. V i 7 Fig.4 is a vertical section taken about 'onthe line 4:54 of'Fig'. 3,- and further. illustrating the means by which j'connection is -had to the tooth or'teetlito'be'correctedh lngthis view theio uter portions of' the parts are broken away.

' Fig.5 is a perspective 'brolren 'away and show-1 me one: end offa "bow which I prefer to employ for effecting the connection to the orthodontic arch attached tothe teeth to becorrctedF :1 Fig, 6 isa detailed view upon an enlarged scale, and further-illustratingtYie-mannerin which a torsional forceor torque'can be developed in the member that operates to impart corrective force to the tooth or teethto be; corrected. {In this 7 view the tension member or elastic band, is shown with its outer endsbrok'en away.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary vertical section illustratinga modifiedembodiment of a detail of the invention. 1' V In practicing the invention, I providemeans for imparting the corrective forces to the tooth or teeth, and I provide means for supporting the same before the patients mouth so as to adapt the point of application of-the force to the upper or low'erjaw of the patient, and ;tothe front teeth 'orlaterally-disp'osed teetli adjacent to the front teethJIn order to'acc omplish this Iprefer to provide a frame I which comprises guide means a for a t'ransverse bar or cross-head 2. This frame is'preierably constructed of wire in such away that it presents two substantially vertical, par:

allel forksor guide bars 3 having converging,ex-

tensions 4 at theirupper ends. Above these ex- {tensions i thematerialjis bent so as to iorrnjtwo parallel shanks which are attached'together preferablybyjineans of a flat sleeve 5 folded around the same, and which is adapted'tdlie againsit thepatients forehead, The extensions 4 iorm a l-inverted V-shaped notch or throat I, and when the sleevefi is placedcentrally on the patients 'forehead,this notch 1 willreceive the Y as a socket for the middle below the junction point of patients nose so that the vertical bars 3 will be disposed equidistant from the central medial plane of'the patients face, which coincides with the axial line 8 indicated in Fig. 2. The upperand lower ends of the frame are providedwith means for enabling the same to be secured to headgear, and for this purpose the Wire at the upper end of the frame is preferably formed with two large eyes 9 to which the forward ends of'flexible straps Ill associated with the headgear; may be attached; Thelower ends' of the frame may be bent out.- wardly to form eyes ii to which small wire shackles I2 are secured for the attachment of ad-' directly to the band of a tooth that is to be coroffset hook 30 to provides, point of attachment for'resilient means such as a. band 3 I of rubber or Y H other elastic means, the ends of which. pass around the outer sides of the guide bars 3 adjarected; In order toaccomplish this,-I prefer to' provide the strut member I}, with an upwardly cent the upper edges of the cross-head 2, and are justable chin straps l3 that are connected with, w

or .form a part of, the headgear; andvin addition" to this; the frame is preferably formed ,witha horizontal ortransverse chin bar I I that is slight "member is guided through a centrally disposed ly curved or bowed outwardly/in a, horizontal plane to enable it to fit to the patients chin. Thecross-head 2 is preferably formed of a metal plate, the ends of which are bent around to form sleeves that are friction-tight on the bars 3.

This cross-head operates as a support, and in the presentinstance also, as a guide for the means 16 that operates to impart; the orthodontic stress.

I'IZh-ismeans i8 preferably includes a strut mem ber 11 that mayinclude a tubular, inner part i8 and a stem l9 that projects outwardly from the outer end. This-force-imparting means it is supported on the cross-head 2 and constructed so that it canimpart a force in a horizontal plane to the tooth to be corrected, and also so thattorsionalforcecan be exerted upon a tooth or teeth. Although'this'rneans-could obviously be attached directly to a tooth band for imparting the correcti ve force, in the present instanceI have illustrate'dit asattaching-to a wire arch-2t such as commonly employed in efiecting orthodontic'corfactions. This arch followsthe contour 'of'the jaw and lies] adjacentto the 'patients' teeth in the usualmanner, the; ends of the arch being anchored in the sleeves or sockets-2| that. are atsecured to small tongues or hooks 32 that arestruck" out from the material of the cross-head 2 which,as illustrated, is preferably in the form of a Wide plate. The middle portion of the strut guide opening 33 in the cross-head. With this construction it will be evident that when the middle portion of' the elastic member 3| is appiled to the hook 30, an inwardthrust force will be de-- veloped in thethrust member l1, and in-the bow 21, which force is imparted through the bands 26 to the teeth carrying the bands 24. In the present instance, the orthodontic appliance is illustrated as employed to correct excessive pro.- trusion of .theseteeth.

In order to enable a correcting force to be applied in a lateral position, the cross-head 2 is pref.-

erably provided with two or more laterally disposed guide openings 33a and 33b similar to the opening 33, but located respectively on opposite sides of the medial plane indicated by'the line -8.

If it is desired to develop a torsional or torque force in the strut member [Land to impart such a force toa tooth or. teeth to be corrected, this maybe accomplished by attaching an elastic band 34 to the hook 30 as illustrated'in Fig. 6, In doing thisa portion-ofthe band is setacross the upper sideof the hook 3!],and the band is tachedbyanchor bands 22. 'Theseba'nds 22, in r the present instance, are illustrated as secured on a pair of molars-but of course, if desired,the ends oi'ithis arch can be anchoredon anyother teeth as may-be suggested, by the practice of appropriate technique. 'The ends. of the .Wire arch 2e may be rigidly secured in the sleeves 2!, or may be rigidly secured mom of the sleeves and mounted toslide in the other; or,,in some cases, both ends of the arch canbe mounted to slide -longi-' tudinally in these sleeves; In the present instance the arch 20 is represented as secured at thevpoints 23 to two tooth bandsZd secured on the two forward incissors. r

In Fig. 4: I illustrate the inner end of the strut member I i, the forward end of which is cut away to form a deep slot or throat-25 capable of receiving themiddle portion of the arch 2 9 betweentwo forks 26. The throat25 is formed between these two forks, and the rear end of the throat operates N portion of abow 21 preferably'formedof bent wire. The ends of this bow 27 are formed with means such as hooks 28 to attach-to, the arch 20. In other words, the

means for attaching the strut member 1.7 is preferably made so as to afford three points-of aturging to 'thencarried through they hook in one direction.

and returned toward the other side by passing the same under the strut member. With this dispositionof the elastic bandit will be evident that the tension in itwill exert a torsional force rotate the strut'rnember 11 on its own axis. Of course, if the hook 30 is disposed in an outboard position as illustrated in Fig. 1, this torsional'force will be accompanied'by aninward thrust force in the .strut member. HOW? ever, -it will be evident that by shortening the length of the outer portion of the strut member so as to bring the hook 39' in quite close to the cross-head 2, it would be, possible to use the appliance for exerting a torsional effect such as described, .without any substantial-inward; thrust force against the tooth. Y

' .W'hen the appliance, is used in case of'a fracture, I may provide a tubular guide 35" on the outer side of the cross-head 35, for the "stem 31, and provide a coil spring 38 to thrustjag'ainst the inner face of the cross-head so as to exert bow 3."! rearwardly toward tion of a frame member with'means forsecu'ring the same extending down in tical plane before the a cross-head carried strut guided on said a substantially verpatients face and mouth, on the frame member, a" cross-head and projecting inwardly beyond the cross-head, a tooth band on the tooth tobe corrected, connected to the strut,

means for developing a torsional force in'the 1 strut about its own longitudinal axis for imparting the torsional force to the tooth to eifectthe orthodontic correction. w I V 2. Ina-n orthodontic appliance to be employed with means secured to the tooth or teeth to be corrected, the combination of a frame with means for securing the same before the patients mouth, a stern supported on said frame, having means at its inner end for securing the same to said first-named means, said stem having; an

elongated body with an offset portion; andlresilient means secured on the frame and attached to the said offset portion ofv the stem for exert ing torsional force upon the same to impart a torsional strain to the tooth or teeth to be'corrected.

3. In an orthodontic appliance, 'a frame haV- ing a pair of substantially parallel; side bars with means connecting the same at their upper ends, said last-namedmeans adapted to lie against the patients forehead, said frame including at its upperend a pair of laterally disposed eyes for attachment to flexible headgear, and having a pair of laterally disposed shackles adjacent the lower ends of said bars'for the attachment of straps for the headgear, and a cross-.=

head movable on the side bars and capable of being positioned at any desired elevation before the patientsmouth.

4.'In an orthodontic appliance,

a frame chin with means associated therewith for press- 3 ing the same againstthe patients chin, to maintain the frame in a fixed relation to the patients mouth, across-head carried on the frame memher and comprising a transverse bar extending ina substantially horizontal direction across immediately in front of the patients mouth, and

means supported on the'cross-bar for exerting yielding pressure in a general horizontal direction and transverse to the dentition line to attain the desired orthodontic efiect.

6. Anorthodontic appliancefconstructed as do fined in claim 5, in which the cross-head is provided with means at different points spaced along its length for supporting the said means for exerting yielding pressure. 1

7.'In an orthodontic appliance, the combination' ofa frame member having means atits upper end for securing the same on a patients forehead, said frame member including a pair V for adjustment up or down on the same for dis-.,

posing the cross-head .in position immediatelyformed ofbent wire having a pair of substan tially parallel oppositelyv disposed side bars, said side bars having converging. extensions above,

with shanks lying adjacent to each other; and i having means for securing the same together,

the material above said shanks being bent laterally to form eyes for attachment vto headgear,-

said frame having a transverse chin bar at its lower end, adapted to rest upon the patients chin, connected integrally with the lower ends of said side bars, and having means atits ends for securing chin straps. Y

of substantially parallel spaced bars extending downwardly and located respectively toward each side of the patients mouth, a cross-head having means at its ends for engaging said bars in frontof. the patients mouth, said crossshead having apluralityofiguiding meansfspaced apart on the same, and located respectively adjacent l the middle of the cross-head, and toward its ends, and a pressure exerting member guided on the cross-head in any of said guiding means and having means associated therewith for exerting 1 a yielding force upon a tooth in a general horizontal direction-and transverse to the dentition line. i 1

, SPENCER R. ATKINSON. 

